My summer goals {where has summer gone?!?} include redecorating my older two kids bedrooms, so I figured I would start off my 'Summer Re-do' mini series with a tour of the one room that is actually done!

When I found out I was pregnant I decided to switch all the kids bedrooms around {yeah, should have thought that through a little more} so that the big kiddos could have the bigger rooms and I made the smallest room into the nursery. I was able to reuse or re-purpose many old decorations {mainly because I'm super cheap}, so I didn't have to spend a ton of money since I knew I would soon be spending a small fortune on diapers! I think it turned out pretty cute!

The room was already the raspberry color from when it was Bella's nursery, so I didn't need to {aka was too lazy} repaint. It took forever, but I finally found a fabric that I fell in love with! It's from the "Tea Garden" collection by Free Spirit. It matches the paint perfectly.

I reused the crib from my other two kids, which must taste good since it's covered in teeth marks! I made the crib skirt from some fabric I purchased for Bella's nursery 9 years before, gotta love hoarding! The little chair I recovered was also Bella's.

I made a table cloth from some fabric that I had bought to make pillows with, but never used. The white table cloth and the table were from my wedding! The lamp was from a previous guest room that I repainted and used an old sticky shade that I covered in trim. The frame and books were Bella's also and the dress form was from a decoration from an old craft fair I was in.

The glider was from my older two kids too, but I did BUY the pillow! Gasp! I haven't paid for a pillow in years, but I was exhausted and too tired to make it {and I had a gift card to HomeGoods!}, and it was perfect!

The armoire was our old media cabinet {which had been storing craft supplies since the TV we HAD TO HAVE is about two times to big to fit!} the majority of the decorations on top are from my wedding or Bella's nursery: One of the "bird cages" is from my entry in the American Crafter competition!

I made the art using letters that were left over from a birthday party, an old frame I painted to match the lamp and cut up an old print I found at a flea market.

The picture was is made up of mainly old frames, goodwill frames, a birdcage {using the rest of my HomeGoods gift card!} some letters and two wooden scroll frames from Michael's. They are filled with free printables, scrapbook papers, cards and prints from a flea market.

The art above the bed was made using stencil, math {ick} and a lot of patience! I adore how it turned out!

There is an old mirror from our previous home and one of my baby dresses hung up.

The curtain panels are simple French dot fabric hung on old rods. I love how it turned out...

I blame this party on my husband. While on a Daddy/Daughter date {awwww!} he took her into the American Girl store without knowing how much they cost, VERY.BIG.MISTAKE! She became obsessed instantly. Thank God for Target and their Our Generation dolls that saved me from having to take out a loan to get her a doll. Anyways....back to the party!

I am not a fan of evites {LOVE getting them, those reminders are priceless!}, so I went the old-fashioned, stamps included, direction and made these.

And since I tend to go over the top a little {ahem}, I tied them onto doll sized pillows that I made. They were simple to make, killed me that I didn't made mini pillowcases though...sigh.

Once all EIGHT girls rsvp'd it was onto the decorations! I chose to set up little areas for the various doll activities, so that the girls would have room to play. I set up a cafe', salon, stable, campsite, fashion design and interior decorating areas.

The most popular was the salon area, smart girls. It had a hair styling area complete with a salon chair, mini scissors, hair cutting capes, brushes, spray bottles, hair accessories, a mirror and magazines for the dolls to read. There was also a massage table, a pedicure area and a hot tub with hot rocks, that was my eight year old's idea, I kid you not.

My daughter LOVES horses, so of course her dolls had to have one {thanks again, Target!}! The stable area was really simple, but that horse was definitely put through it's paces!

The camping area was another big hit. There were two tents, sleeping bags, and a campfire with snack and seating area.

The cafe' was set up by her old dollhouse turned American Girl apartment, where there was a little kitchen set up, loads of play food and an incredible table and chair set made by my dad {aka best grandpa EVER!}.

I had to find a way to keep EIGHT girls between 6 and 8 entertained so I came up with a few crafts. I set up a 'Fashion Design' area {my daughter is always designing dresses she wants me to sew.} for the girls to make their dolls a pillowcase dress. I sewed eight pillowcase dresses {here is a super simple tutorial}, but left out the ribbon so they would be flat and easier to decorate. I had some fabric markers, which are FANTASTIC, and some ribbons for them to chose from to finish their dresses. They LOVED doing it, and it kept them quiet busy for awhile.

For the 'Interior Design' area I set up a painting station, which I knew all these crafty girls would love! I found some canvas on sale and added some paint, brushes, and these adorable little painters palettes, which I had to have! {WAY cheaper in the teacher supply section at the craft store than in the painting section, go figure.}.

The 'Interior Design' section also included a make-you-own doll sleeping bag craft. I figured tying all those knots would keep them quiet busy for a long time, however I ended up finishing the majority of them at midnight! {Apparently, playing was more fun than tying knots.}. Since the dolls already had pillows I figured they needed sleeping bags to go with it.

And here is where I went slightly overboard. With a combination of thrift stores, my daughters drawers and sewing I made eight American Girl doll outfits. Even I admit that's a little crazy. I printed pictures of the dolls to display by the outfits and crossed my fingers that the girls would be interested, because I spent altogether too much time on them! Thankfully, the girls LOVED them! They ran to them right away and wore them all night, whew! I also made a life sized doll box to use as a photo booth.

I printed a picture of each girl and used cheap picture frames and scrapbook paper to make faux doll boxes to use as a display for the mantle. It turned out perfectly.

There were also delicious cupcakes and decorations galore! There are still stars all over my house. {shh!}

The girls got to take home their pillowcase dresses, paintings, sleeping bags, picture frame and I made them necklaces with a star pendant and the quote, "Shine-To be a star, you must shine your own light, follow your own path. -Unknown" as favors.

All in all, I think it was a very successful party and these American Girls had a great time!